Albo ‘having a look’ at extending paid parental leave to six months

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said he’s open to discussing expanding the current national parental leave pay from 18 to 26 weeks to help new parents.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has revealed he’s open to a discussion of expanding taxpayer-funded paid parental leave pay from 18 to 26 weeks to help parents care for newborn babies.

The current scheme includes two payments – Parental Leave Pay as well as Dad and Partner Pay, which are paid at the national minimum wage rate of $812.45 per week before tax.

By increasing the scheme from 18 to 26 weeks, parental leave pay would increase from $14,624 to $21,124 in the first year of a child’s birth.

The payments are subject to an income test. Claimants are not eligible if their annual adjusted taxable income is greater than $156,647 in the 2021-22 financial year.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said he is open to a discussion of expanding taxpayer-funded paid parental leave. Picture: Martin Ollman/Getty Images

Asked about a push to expand the scheme today, Mr Albanese said it was something the Government was interested in looking at.

“We are going to have a look at paid parental leave,” he said.

“We certainly would like to do more, but some of these issues, of course, are within the budget constraints which are there. So we have inherited $1 trillion of debt. Yes, it is a worthy idea and worthy of consideration.”

The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) wants the paid parental leave scheme expanded from 18 weeks to 26 weeks and then 52 weeks by 2030.

The ACTU wants the paid parental leave scheme expanded to a year of payments by 2030.

“Australia has the second-worst government-funded paid parental leave scheme in the developed world, behind Bulgaria, Ecuador and Panama,” ACTU president Michele O’Neil said.

“In 2022, women shouldn’t have to give up on having a family and men shouldn’t miss out on being involved in raising their kids because paid parental leave is insufficient.”

However, the Government has ruled out bringing forward “game-changing” childcare reforms that will cover up to 90 per cent of parents’ childcare costs.

“Yes, there are parts of the community that would love to fund this a bit earlier than July and in truth, it’s something that we had a good look at, but it’s very expensive to do that,’’ Treasurer Jim Chalmers said.

“It’s going to be too expensive. I get asked from time to time about it. We had a good look at it before the election and subsequently, it’s a big, almost $5 billion commitment that we’re making. It’s actually the biggest on-budget commitment that we’ve made as a Government.

“It will be there in the October Budget. It will begin in July and when it comes in, it will be a game-changer for Australian families and particularly for Australian mums.”

Treasurer, Jim Chalmers said childcare reforms are something the Government had a good look at. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Martin Ollman

The changes will deliver a saving of around $82 each week to a two-income family with both parents earning around $80,000.

For example, a middle-income family with each parent earning $80,000 a year, who is currently paying $110-a-day per child, previously secured a 55 per cent subsidy meaning parents were paying $99-a-day in total.

Under the Labor policy, the subsidy for the older child would rise to 74 per cent, meaning the family would be $82-a-week better off if the children are in care for four days a week.

The Albanese Government is looking at ways to encourage more stay-at-home fathers.

The Albanese Government has also previously flagged it is considering allowing dads to share in up to 20 weeks of paid parental leave to share the burden of childcare.

It will commence discussions with business to find ways to encourage more fathers to stay home and share more care during the first two years of their child’s life.

Government Services Minister Bill Shorten said Labor wanted to consult with businesses to find ways to help more dads stay home with their babies.

“If you have 20 weeks, and it’s for the primary carer, let’s encourage dads if they want to take up more than the two weeks they are currently allowed to, we should,” he said.